Health » Presidential candidate says health law covers prenatal tests “to cull the ranks of the disabled”; Obama campaign calls them essential for women’s health.

By heather may

| The Salt Lake Tribune

Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum says insurance companies shouldn’t be forced to cover certain prenatal tests that detect birth defects because they lead to abortions.

But even in conservative Utah, doctors and women dispute Santorum’s claim that a procedure called amniocentesis spurs abortions when chromosomal or genetic defects are found.

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"It’s important that families don’t equate this testing with abortion. It’s just not true," said physician Robert Silver, chief of the division of maternal and fetal medicine at the University of Utah medical school. "We see a whole lot of people doing this testing who don’t have abortions."

He said women also seek genetic tests for peace of mind and to prepare themselves and their families if a problem is found. In some cases, procedures can be performed in utero to improve the fetuses’ health.

Santorum says President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act will require insurance companies to cover prenatal tests such as amniocentesis, in which a needle draws out amniotic fluid and cells from the sac surrounding a fetus to test for defects, including cystic fibrosis, spina bifida and Down syndrome.

In a speech to the Christian Alliance in Ohio on Saturday, Santorum said the law was intended to increase abortions and save money "because we cull the ranks of the disabled in our society."

And on the CBS News program "Face the Nation" Sunday, Santorum added: "Amniocentesis does in fact result more often than not in this country in abortion. That is a fact."

In Utah, the numbers tell a different story.

Among all pregnancies with a birth defect, 4.2 percent resulted in termination between 2000 and 2009, according to the Utah Birth Defect Network. During the same time period, 9.6 percent of fetuses with Down syndrome were terminated.

A 1999 study showed that nationally, 90 percent of women terminate their pregnancies after a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome.

While Santorum said women have a right to do the tests, "to have the government force people to provide it free, just to me is a bit loaded."

In Utah, Medicaid currently covers some prenatal tests, including amniocentesis, according to the state health department.

The Obama campaign says prenatal testing is "essential to promote the health of both the mother and baby and to ensure safe deliveries."

After two of her children died from suspected mitochondrial disease, Lehi mother Marie Nuccitelli wished there was a prenatal test to detect the disorder to "get the shock out of the way [so] you can focus more on the needs your child has."

Instead, when she found out she was pregnant with her now 3-year-old, she met with a genetic counselor to understand the risks. She learned there was a 25 percent chance her daughter would have the disorder, which can damage the cells of the brain, heart, liver, skeletal muscles, kidneys and the endocrine and respiratory systems. It can be fatal.

"I’m not a person that really looks at termination as an option," said Nuccitelli, a Republican. "It was a way for me to kind of prepare after going through what we have been through. I didn’t want to go through it again. I also felt like if I knew it was coming it would help me to deal with it rather than be surprised."

Her daughter Sarai does appear to have the disorder.